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Show ThuwdAy, JNWy 21, 1988 ChRONtclE Paqc ED ORIA New boundary a wise choice ft Salt Lake Qty moved a step closer to Martin Luther King Jr.'s idea of equality and diversity when the Salt Lake School Board voted 3 to set new boundaries for students from South, East and West High schools. During the past week, proponents of civil rights across the nation have offered eulogies to King, commenting on how far the United States is from King's vision. And they're correct, In the area of civil rights, this nation has 4-- progressed by enacting laws that prohibit segregation and discrimination. However, traditional beliefs and attitudes persist. A great deal of work still needs to be done. Although the boundary change may seem a small step forward for civil rights, it is progressive considering many of the traditional attitudes toward education in this state. Maybe Salt Lake children can help change the perceptions about people who may be poorer or richer or from different backgrounds. In the long run, public education in Utah will be enhanced by the change in boundaries. It will allow different cultures and different ethnic groups, who would have previously been alienated from one another, to blend together and diversify the student bodies. More important, the move will spell a quicker boundaries in end to traditional the Salt Lake valley. For too long, Salt Lake City has experienced a cold war between economic classes, a cold war between the East and the West out-dat- ed socio-econom- Rolf Kirby action Affirmative is wrong ic side. This fall, ninth graders from the Avenues, Federal Heights and Arlington Hills neighborhoods will begin attending West High, taking the first step toward ending the cold war. Students from South High School, which will close in June, will be sent to East High and Highland High. According to the new rules, students already enrolled in a high school will be able to graduate from the school they are now attending. Students from South High, which is often considered a vocation-oriente- d school, will be has a East reputation for High, which exposed to emphasizing college preparation. Likewise, students from Federal Heights and the Avenues will diversify the student body at West High. These modifications in the structure will not come easily. The battle to defeat the boundary change was fierce. Parents from the Avenues, Federal Heights and Arlington Hills have indicated they will not cooperate with the socio-econom- ic changes. This seems absurd because the quality of education at West is as high as it is at East. But despite intense disapproval by some, the board's vote reflects a wise decision by its members. Now that the decision has been made, cooperation is desperately needed if the plan is to be a complete success. Parents must stop treating an East High education as a symbol of status. The students themselves will also have to cooperate. If the new plan is a success, it could have tremendous results, bringing differing economic and ethnic groups together. Chronicle The Daily Utah Chronicle is an independent student newspaper published during fall, winter and spring quarters, excluding test weeks and quarter breaks, by the University Publications Council. Editorials reflect the opinion of the editorial board, and not necessarily the opinions of the student are 525 a body or the administration. Subscriptions All subscriptions year, S10 an academic quarter. must be prepaid. Forward all subscription corresthe Buspondence, including change of address, to iness Manager, Daily Utah Chronicle, 240 Union, 84112. University of Utah,' Salt Lake City, Utah Martin Luther King's birthday has come around again, with attendant editorials. None I have seen so far has addressed an important point. Affirmative action programs are a perversion of Martin Luther King's ideals. When blacks were being discriminated against, King wanted all people to be judged not by the color of their skin, but by who they were. Today's programs for promoting racial "equality" are the antithesis of this, for they hold that skin color has more meaning. Affirmative action programs mean if a minority and a white person both want a job, and the company's quota of minorities is not filled, the minority must be hired, even if he is somewhat less qualified than the white person. This program is bad and makes things worse for minorities in a number of ways. The first way in which this is bad is it institutionalizes the idea that minorities are not equal to whites. Consider what a visitor from space might think when he first heard about the programs. He would likely ask, "If minorities are really equal to whites, then why do they need these programs? Surely only if minorities are actually inferior would they need these programs." Affirmative action programs have a tendency to keep minorities at a lower level than whites. Under the current welfare program, it is often more profitable for the unemployed to stay on welfare than job. Similarly, minorities do not get a ; have to be as good as whites to get jobs. This are not as good as idea minorities the that perpetuates ' whites, Proponents of affirmative action programs, say it is . unfair to discriminate against people for a long time and then turn around and tell them to compete with everyone else. These people are starting out at a disadvantage and need affirmative action to get them going, goes the argument. Consider the case of professional sports. There was a time when there were no blacks on professional teams. Finally, a baseball team let one on, because he was so good. Initially, blacks had to be better than whites to get hired. That meant any time you saw a black athelete, you knew he was very good. That kind of discrimination is now rare in sports, and many News Editor Editorial Editor Sports Editor Feature Editor Photography Editor Chief Copy Editor Investigative Editor Campus Editor Assistant News Editor Assistant Editorial Editor Assistant Sports Editor Assistant Feature Editor " less-qualifi- low-payi- ng t' Editorial Board: Kent Anderson, Shauna Bona, Andrew Hunt, Bryant Larsen, Dee NaQuin, Rosemary Reeve, Fara Warner Editor in Chief Managing Editor teams are mostly black. People who support affirmative action programs should ask themselves what would have happened if the government had forced professional teams to hire blacks, as they now force employers to" hire peopfe. based on skin color. There would have been great resentment against blacks, especially the ones hired. Instead of meaning someone who was excellent at sports, being black would have meant the opposite. The example of professional sports shows exactly how equality should be reached. It can be thought of as positive reinforcement. The minority that has been discriminated against shows the majority they are very qualified. After a while, the majority realize what a waste of talent it is not to treat people equally and begin to do so. Those who think it is a pipe dream need only look at the Asians. Many of them came to the United States not knowing any English, having fled from x . s Vietnam. Often, their children attend good universities. It can be seen within a single generation many have lifted themselves out of poverty. This is so prevalent in some areas of the United States that being Asian is a sign of being a hard worker and someone worth hiring. Even excepting the above, there is a last reason why affirmative action programs are bad: They divide the country by race instead of by the haves and have nots. How fair is a system where wealthy minorities educated at Yale benefit while poor whites don't? It used to be that blacks were considered less intelligent than whites because they always scored lower on intelligence tests. However, when poor blacks and poor whites were compared, test scores were found to be pretty much equal. It is apparent then that government programs designed to help people should be based on culture rather than race. It is sad that past victims of discrimination did not learn to hate it in all forms, but only hate it when it discriminates against them. The world will be a friendlier, more efficient and less violent place when people stop being so infatuated with race. Rolf Kirby is a sophomore majoring in political science and is a regular columnist for the Chronicle. . Shauna Bona Kent Anderson Fara Warner Dee L. NaQuin John Pecorelli Erin Calmes Edward Ruiz Kent Condon Todd Curtis Sharon Deckert Ellen Garff W. Scott Hall Assistant Feature Editor Assistant Photography Editor Assistant Copy Editor Reporters Laury Livsey Rosemary Reeve Steven C. Wilson Bryant Larsen Dennis Romboy Lori Bona Darren Hawkins Andrew Hunt Glenn Seninger Loreen Erickson Business Manager Accountant Classifieds Accounting Clerk . . . . v . Kelly Hindley Amber McKee Dcanie Wimmer Robert McOmber Kay Andersen Charlcne Ollins '. . . . Kim Bartel Collections Account Executives Typesetters Production Manager Assistant Production Manager Production Staff Distribution ed Michael Allsop John Hausknecht Kris DeBry Tammie Bostick Todd Butler Sara Wilson James A. Beck Tracey L. Heinhold Michael Q. Cleary Kenny Watanabe Abbie Hall Maria Lisieski James Olsen Todd Matsuda David Orchard Christopher Stratford .... Five |
